One of the most critical parts of a woodwind instrument such as a bassoon, oboe, clarinet, or saxophone is the reed. The reed is a thin elastic tongue of reed cane, wood, plastic, or metal fastened at one end to the mouthpiece portion of the instrument and is set in vibration by the musician's breath. The mouthpiece of the bassoon is the reed itself. Most of the reed material for the bassoon mouthpiece grows generally in the Mediterranean area. Accordingly, prefabricated reeds are somewhat expensive because of limited supply of reed material. As the bassoon reeds must be replaced periodically because of age, wear, and unsuitability, many bassoon players make their own reeds in the interests of economy. Such individual fabrication also allows the reeds to be tailored to the specific needs of each musician.
A bassoon reed is difficult to make from a raw section of reed cane material, as absolute symmetry is required on opposite sides of the finished reed in order to insure proper vibration. Additionally, only a few machines exist which produce bassoon reeds and they are not only cumbersome, but they also produce reeds having imprecise tolerances. Futhermore, such machines are expensive and often beyond the financial reach of the musician. Accordingly, as professional bassoon players must have reeds uniquely shaped to their needs, many bassoon players have developed special sets of hand tools to produce these special reeds. However, production of reeds with such tools is very time-consuming and the reeds are not as accurate as desired.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of this invention to accurately trim a section of reed material for use in a woodwind instrument such as a bassoon.
It is an additional object of this invention to allow the precise tailoring of a woodwind reed to the needs of individual musicians.
It is a further object of this invention to quickly trim reeds for use in woodwind instruments.
It is a final object of this invention to economically produce woodwind instrument reeds.